Michigan Car Accident Settlement and Lawsuits

Talk to a Car Accident Lawyer

Anyone who has been injured in a car accident in Michigan
needs to understand the different state laws and insurance requirements that
could affect any settlement or lawsuit over the accident.

This page provides a guide to the Michigan-specific
resources on All-About-Car-Accidents.com, starting with an introduction to Michigan’s
no-fault car insurance rules. We’ll also look at state laws that could affect a
car accident lawsuit in Michigan -- if your claim qualifies for exemption from
no-fault -- and when it might make sense to get help from an experienced
lawyer.

Michigan No-Fault Car Insurance Rules

After
any car accident in Michigan, the first thing to understand is that the state
follows a “no-fault” car
insurance
system. Under no-fault, regardless of who may be to blame for the accident, anyone
who has been injured turns first (and often exclusively) to his or her own car
insurance coverage to get compensation for injuries and lost income. Michigan’s
no-fault rules even cover vehicle damage.

Michigan's
no-fault insurance laws prohibits drivers and passengers from suing one another
except in a few limited circumstances, such as when the accident caused someone
to be killed, or if it resulted in serious impairment of a bodily function, or
caused permanent and serious disfigurement to the claimant.

Why
does exemption from no-fault matter? For one thing, taking a claim outside of
no-fault lets an injured person demand compensation for pain and
suffering
and other kinds of non-economic damages (these aren’t available to a claimant
under no-fault). For more
information, including a breakdown of the car insurance coverage minimums in
the state, check out Michigan Car Insurance Laws.

Michigan Car Accident Laws

If
your injury claim is serious enough to let you step outside of Michigan’s
no-fault system and file a lawsuit against the other driver, there are a few state
laws that could come into play, starting with the deadline for filing a
personal injury case in court. This kind of law is called a “statute of limitations,”
and every state has one; different deadlines apply to different kinds of cases.

In Michigan,
you have three
years from the date
of the car accident to get your case started -- that means getting the initial
complaint and summons filed in Michigan’s civil court system. You can find this
law codified at Michigan Compiled Laws section
500.3145. The same three-year deadline applies whether the lawsuit is for
injuries caused by the car accident, or for vehicle damage.

If you miss the three-year window, the court
will probably throw your case out, so it’s crucial to pay attention to the
statute of limitations as it applies to your claim. Even if you’re only making
a third party insurance claim against the other driver and you think it’s bound
to settle outside of court, you always want to keep open the option of filing a
lawsuit, if only for leverage during settlement negotiations.

Contact a Michigan Car Accident Lawyer

Not every car accident case needs to be handled by a lawyer.
If you were involved in a minor car accident and you are simply making a claim
through your own policy in line with Michigan no-fault car insurance rules, you
can probably handle the claim yourself.

But if you’ve suffered significant injuries and you think
your claim meets the Michigan threshold for taking a car accident case outside
of no-fault, you might find that there is a lot more at stake. An experienced
lawyer can be your best bet when you’re trying to prove that your case
qualifies for exemption from no-fault, and once it does qualify, your lawyer
will protect your rights at every stage of any liability claim or lawsuit you
decide to pursue.